Build version: 1.0.8.6 Beta (started with v1.0.8.4 Beta)
Severity: Medium
Annoyance factor: Very High
Saved game:
The auto-designer made bombers and interceptors design that had a major flaw, without the game giving any warning about the problem.
The design flaw is that the interceptors and bombers didn’t have enough energy to fire their weapons:
- Bomber energy section.png (32.65 KiB) Viewed 331 times
But for me, the main problem is not so much the lack of power. After all, if there’s no reactor powerful enough at that point in the game (which was the case in my game), it can’t conjure one out if thin air. No, the problem is that player is not informed that there’s a defect in an automated design.
When designing the destroyers, there was absolutely no indications that there was or would be a problem with the interceptors and bombers that would be built from the starfighter bays. Nor was there any indication of the problem or warning about it anywhere else after that, at any point. Except that my fleet with 124 fighters was utterly defeated by a boskaran fleet with mostly frigates, each armed with only 1 plasma blaster, 1 epsilon torpedo and 1 sentinel multi-beam.
I don’t have much experience with fighters in DW2, but I suspect that’s not how things would have turned out if the fighters would have been able to fire their weapons. Especially since I had beelined toward the “Fast Interceptors” and “Fast Bombers” Ackdarian specific techs.
But whether or not my fleet would have won with abled fighters, the game should inform the player when an auto-design has defects. Especially fighter auto-designs, since most players probably never check those designs. I know I never did before.
When I went in those fighter designs, to try to understand what happened, there was an indication that there was a defect. But the player shouldn’t have to go check the automated designs to see if they’re OK or not. Especially when the designs are as hidden as the fighters designs are (what do you think are the chances that a player new to the DW franchise would find the solution to the problem I’ve encountered?). No, the game should inform the player of any defect in its auto-generated design, as soon as such a defect appear in a design, whether it’s after its creation or its modification.
Of course, that includes letting the player know, when adding a starfighter bay in the ship designer, that an auto-designed fighter has a defect.
But also, if at any point in the game (ie: not only while in the ship designer), the game creates or modify an automated design (including fighter designs), and that design has one or more defect, the game should inform the player of that fact. And it should be done in a way that would make it impossible for the player to not see that information.
